Precious Times
by Demain Matin
Summary: This is a series of one-shots concerning a very important little boy. –implied mpreg, McShep pre-relationship, crack-ish-
1. When it all began

**When it all began**

Lorne was scouting the terrain, while Zelenka and a few scientists were examining a strange energy reading on the planet that had been labelled safe a few weeks before.

Everything was going good… well, until one of the scientists started shouting in the radio to run and hide followed by gunshots in the background. "_There's a beast coming fast at us!!!_" Zelenka cried in the radio-communicators.

"10-4!" Lorne said and immediately ran in the direction where he heard P-90 gunshots.

Arriving on the spot, he assessed the situation: Zelenka on the ground, panting but in a non-critical state; two marines with their P-90 ready to shoot again if anything moved; something on the ground, that looked like a cross between a wolf and a buffalo, which was bleeding profusely and looking rather dead; a little boy crying… wait what?!

Lorne frowned and signalled to his men to lower their weapon, since the beast was obviously not going anywhere. He helped Zelenka to get up and went to the crying little boy and knelt beside him. "Hey there," he started, with a soft voice, "what are you doing here all by yourself?"

Hiccupping, the child dried his eyes with his sleeve and sniffed: "I don' know… my daddy was talking 'bout a door and… war and… another universe… it opened and then he pushed me and BANG!" he mimicked the impact with his stubby arms. "There was light and I was in a forest…" he frowned, not really knowing what had happened. He turned and pointed at the dead animal: "and that _thing_!!! It was running at me!"

Lorne rose an eyebrow and looked at the marines, then shifting back his gaze to the boy: "So… you don't know how you got here, right?" A quick nod was the only answer he got. "Don't worry, we'll get you back home" he falsely promised. He had no idea why or how the child got on the planet. He wasn't wearing clothes like the people on the planet wore; after thinking about it, he looked like he was from Earth or something.

Giving orders to pack the stuff; they were all going back to Atlantis; they couldn't continue with that child around, nor could they leave him there. Maybe they would find answers by going back.

Offering the little boy his hand, which he took, they all went through the gate.

(---)

An hour later, at the infirmary, Carson was just finishing clearing the team when Elizabeth entered.

"So, who's that little person major Lorne and doctor Zelenka brought back?"

Carson smiled and pointed at one of the beds farther in the infirmary. "That little guy is quite the show!" he laughed. Signing the last form, he bid goodbye to one of the scientist who sprained an ankle while trying to run away from the beast.

Elizabeth thanked Carson and went to see the boy, who was sitting on a bed, swinging his little legs while licking a lollipop. "Hi there, my name is Elizabeth. What's yours?" she asked, thinking of a way to approach him without scaring him.

"My name is Alexander. Nice to meet you, miss Elizabeth!" he smiled at her.

She sat on the chair beside the bed. "So, where are your parents, Alexander?" she started to ask, but she was interrupted by the radio-comm.

"_Stargate activated, incoming is team SGA-1 and one wounded, ma'am._"

She tapped her radio, "Deactivate the shield. I am at the infirmary and on my way to the control room. I am sending a medical team for the injured."

"_Roger that._"

Elizabeth got up and she didn't even have to say a word that Carson had already sent a team. She turned to Alexander and smiled: "Don't move, I'll be right back." She quickly got out of the infirmary to get to the control room. She hoped it was nothing serious.

When she got there, she was able to assess better the situation. "What happened?"

The four members of SGA-1 were there; the only person who was injured was Ronon, who had been scratched on the arm by a creature. However, they were all covered in blood from head to toe, except for John.

Trying to catch his breath, Sheppard explained quickly: "It was like being in Jurassic Park, there were dinosaurs everywhere."

"They smelled us and wanted to eat us…" Rodney added.

"… So we fired and even bleeding, they were still running after us" Ronon said, grinning. Nothing like a little rush of adrenaline to enlighten his day.

Rodney straightened and lifted his chin: "Yes, well, it wasn't a fun ride. We almost got killed in the process." He glared in Ronon's direction and then turned to John: "How come you're devoid of blood and not us?"

Sheppard shrugged and smiled smugly.

Elizabeth sighed. "Well, now Ronon, you will go to the infirmary." It wasn't life threatening, but the injury had to be treated to prevent infection. "Rodney and Teyla, you will also get a check-up from Dr. Beckett, and John, I'd like to hear more about how went the reconnaissance mission."

Teyla nodded and Rodney confirmed with a lazy "fine".

Elizabeth then motioned John to climb upstairs in her office.

The medics transport Ronon to the infirmary and Rodney watches them go. "Well, I don't know for you Teyla," the scientist said, trying to remove his blood-covered coat, "but I'm taking a shower before going to the infirmary." She agreed with him and they both went in their own rooms to wash.

(---)

As Rodney entered the infirmary, he was assaulted by a little boy. "DADDY!!!!" he said, a huge smile on his face. He approached Rodney and clasped his legs with his tiny arms.

"Daddy? Me?" Rodney backed away, "I think you got it all wrong, kid" he said nervously. He looked around quickly, trying to see if someone could tell him what was going on.

Elizabeth chuckled. "This is Alexander. He arrived with Lorne's team from an expedition on MXT-089."

Pulling a bit on Rodney's pant leg, he exclaimed loudly: "You told me to give you this when I would see you."

The Canadian frowned and took the small USB key the boy was holding. He plugged it in a nearby computer and watched a video that was saved on the key:

"_Hi. This is Doctor Rodney McKay. I am recording this because we are under attack from the Wraiths... but this time, it's big. We can no longer communicate with Earth, so I am asking a huge favour. Our son Alexander: we sent him in your universe because we can't protect him here. We sent him to you hoping that you would care for him in our stead. Please understand that this was our last option. Just tell him this whole thing, he'll understand._" _He paused. _"_Tell him that his parents love him dearly._"

The video stopped playing.

Rodney was baffled; that was him... in what seemed to be another dimension; this boy really was his son. He cleared his voice and tried to sound as detached as possible: "Yes, well. It seems so. I huh…" Then he stopped in mid-sentence, focusing on one detail: who is the child's mother?

The Canadian was about to ask the question when Sheppard entered the infirmary, coming in to check if Ronon was doing okay. He still was covered in blood, but was fine.

However, he didn't have time to get near the bed that Alexander cried "MOMMY!!!" and attacked John's legs.

Everyone in the room stopped breathing, trying to see if it was a joke, but no, Alexander seemed serious about the whole declaration. He even made a sign that he wanted John to pick him up by raising his arms in the air.

John was perplexed. First, there was a child in the infirmary. Second, why that had child called him 'mommy'? "I- huh... what? Mommy?" He picked up the child, sitting him on his hip. He then looked at McKay and then at Elizabeth, wanting some kind of explanation.

Elizabeth looked as if she had just seen a ghost and Rodney…

"Why are you red in the face, McKay?" John asked, semi-curious semi-annoyed. He looked at the kid one more time and then pressed the head scientist to answer his question.

"This little boy here is your son, John" Elizabeth said, with all the tact in the world. She smiled slightly, "he is from a parallel universe where you and Rodney are his parents."

There, it had been said.

A few seconds of silence and then: "Wait- what does that mean?" Sheppard asked. Then he frowned: "Was I…? I mean the _other_ Sheppard… was he…?" He wasn't able to finish his sentence, a bit scared of hearing the answer.

McKay didn't want to finish that question either, so staying vague on the subject, he replied "He, huh, we actually don't know… how." He shivered slightly. "Alexander, how old are you?"

The boy showed four fingers.

Maybe the kid knew the 'how'… after all, he _did_ have McKay genes in him. He cleared his throat: "Did your parents tell you about… where you came from?"

The boy, still sitting on John's hip, nodded with confidence: "Yes, I was in mommy's belly for nine loooonng months!" He smiled broadly and hugged Sheppard who turned white as a sheet by the mere image of him…

"John?" Carson asked, seeing Sheppard's discomfort, wanted to act as fast as possible if there would be an emergency.

The military man shook his head and smiled uneasily to reassure the other: "I'm fine, doc… I think." He closed his eyes for a few seconds and shook his head. Scrunching his face, he admitted: "Okay. No. This is weird. Too weird, even for the Pegasus galaxy."

* * *

Hello people! I'm back with a new story, well... more like a series of one-shots, like mentioned in the summary. Some will be longer than others, but always revolving around McKay, Sheppard and little Alexander. Hope you will all like it, this is my first SGA fic lol


	2. Interrupted sleep

**Interrupted sleep**

It was Alexander's second night on Atlantis; at first, they all thought that they should find a way to send him back, but as Rodney had pointed out, they didn't know from which alternate dimension the child came from.

Since it was supposed to be temporary and because they didn't have the heart to leave the child in a bedroom alone, he was sleeping in John's room, since Alexander seemed to be more attached to him; whilst the man slept on a mattress on the floor, the boy slept in the bed.

However, as John would soon realize, a four-year-old child often wake up for various reasons and most of the time, not for a life or death situation.

(---)

Well into the night, the boy woke up and realized that he was thirsty; he sat in the bed and contemplated the different options he had. Nodding to himself, he decided to slide to the floor and walk toward a sleeping John: "Mommy! Are you awake?"

John moaned and was reluctantly leaving the dream world. "Wh-t? Who's there?"

Alexander pouted and crouched beside the man. "Mommy, it's me, Alex. I'm thirsty." He poked John on the head.

"Ouch" the man groaned; little fingers are deadly when used for poking. He rolled on his other side: "Mhmm go see McKay, he's probably in the labs." With that, John went back to sleep.

Huffing, the boy stomped his foot on the floor and left the room.

---

The child then wandered in Atlantis, to find his "father's" location. Of course, Atlantis was nicely showing him the way by lighting the way to the labs.

Talking to himself, he made this little walk into a great adventure to find the secret labs of the great scientist McKay. He was the superhero that was going to reverse the curse set on the labs and would save the day.

When he finally got there, he saw that Rodney was fast asleep on his desk, computer mouse still in hand.

Poking his father in the ribs, not failing to notice the mathematics themed pyjamas, he backed away when the man woke up in a start.

"WHAT?! WE' UNDER ATTACK?!!?" Rodney said, sitting straight with eyes wide open. Panicked, he looked around to find Alexander staring at him.

"Papa, you fell asleep. In front of your computer."

Rodney sputtered: "What? No! I was huh, yes, well… I was simply waiting for a simulation to end." He stared at the boy for a few seconds, noting the resemblance with Sheppard. The dark hair and the ears were screaming 'Sheppard' in every ways… especially the hair with all of its cowlicks. "And don't call me 'papa', I'm not your dad."

The little boy appeared shocked and Rodney didn't know what would happen next. "Don't cry! Please!"

"But-but why? You're my daddy! The nice doctor said it!" Alexander replied, a little sad.

Rodney groaned. "Okay, _fine_. You can call me 'daddy' or 'papa'. But _only_ when no one's around… especially Sheppard."

Alexander looked, at first, happy to have won that argument, but then was perplexed about the last part. "But… why?"

"Because… errr, well. Because it's weird" Rodney decided to go straightforward.

"Why is it weird?"

Rodney groaned. Why did the kid had to be in his 'why' phase? He cursed his bad luck and tried to answer: "Look. I'm just saying… that in this universe, your…" and he made the gesture to mimic quoting marks, "'mom' and I are _not_ together."

He looked at the boy to see if he understood, but almost fell out of his chair when the kid replied with "Why _not_?"

Frustration was knocking at Rodney's door, so instead of yelling at the child, like he would normally do with his scientists, he went straight to the point: "Okay. What do you want?!" Frowning, he was waiting for a clear answer.

The boy thought for a few seconds and said clearly: "I want you to come back to bed with me, you are tired… and you already are wearing your pyjamas!" He then hesitated a bit: "You can even have Teddy… but only for tonight!" Someone on the base had made a little teddy bear with pieces of old clothes sewn together for Alexander.

McKay looked at his computer screen, seeing that there was nothing much to do if he'd fall back to sleep again, so he answered the boy's question with a nonchalant "Fine".

Alexander took Rodney's hand and they went back to Sheppard's quarters chatting calmly.

---

Everything would have been fine if it wouldn't have been of Alexander wanting to "all sleep together" like he did sometimes with his mom and dad _in that other universe_.

As soon as the door was opened, the boy launched himself on Sheppard who, unsurprisingly, woke up.

"What!? WHO?" he said panicked, but quickly calmed down when he was faced with a bouncing child and a half-asleep scientist. "Oh. It's you."

"Mommy! Look! We're all gonna sleep in the same bed!" Alexander giggled madly. Then he got up and tried to drag the bed mattress on the floor next to John's but his little arms couldn't pull hard enough to do it.

Rodney sighed and resigned himself to help the boy. Pushing the mattress so it connected to Sheppard's, he placed the bed sheets and motioned Alexander to get in, which the boy did gleefully.

As everyone settled down, John could feel that Alexander missed home and his parents; he had had trouble sleeping the night before. The boy fell asleep almost instantly, snuggled between both men, with his teddy bear secured in his arms.

When Alexander started snoring, John chuckled slightly, looking at the ceiling: "Yep, definitely your kid, McKay."

Rodney snorted. "If you say so, _mommy_."

* * *

So hello to all again! Here's the second one-shot in the series. Honestly I don't know how many there will be, but some are already finished, as well as the ending of the series.

I was glad to read my three first reviews! hugs! I have the vibe that people liked the first "chapter" and this gives me inspiration to write more :) yay


	3. The mainland

**The mainland**

"Rodney, this is the third scientist you made cry in… two days" Heightmeyer said with a calm voice.

While she waited for his reply, she gently pushed back a lock of hair.

Still no answers from McKay.

She tried something else. "I think that the arrival of Alexander changed a lot the people around here, you included."

"No! I didn't change… I…"

There. A reaction. It was a beginning. "Yes, you did change. Elizabeth told me about it; you seem more tired. If there is something bothering you, Rodney, you know you can talk to me" she said with a soft smile.

Rodney scoffed: "There's nothing wrong with me. At least, it's nothing your," and he mimicked quoting mark with his fingers, "'science' can do."

Heightmeyer smirked; she could smell a challenge coming. "Oh really? What is it then?"

"It's just…" he hesitated a bit, "the kid. Alexander. He… has trouble sleeping sometimes and has nightmares."

Nodding, she motioned him to continue.

"…And, well he wakes us up sometimes, for no specific reasons. And I guess it's starting to take its toll on John and I."

"John and you? You're sleeping in the same room, now?"

Rodney made a face, but quickly answered back: "Yes, well, it's Alexander. His 'parents' in this universe are not together. And to make the kid feel less… alienated by the situation, the three of us are all sleeping in Sheppard's quarters… which was the colonel's idea." He scoffed: "Alexander even asked Sheppard and I to call each other by our first names."

Heightmeyer rose an eyebrow, but didn't comment further; it seemed that Rodney was slowly, but surely, growing up and started to care a bit more about others, which was the positive outcome of Alexander's arrival on Atlantis, a month ago. Pushing back another bang behind her ear, she analysed the situation carefully and finally declared: "Well, this is all interesting, Rodney. Since you've been a bit tense because of the lack of sleep, I am obliged to sign you a day off."

Rodney wanted to reply, so she added quickly: "And someone will fly you to the mainland, tomorrow morning, to go visit the Athosians. They'll pick you up the morning after. Feel free to bring someone with you, like Alexander, for example." She smiled victoriously when the scientist was reduced to a series of 'what!?' and 'you can't do this!'.

Heightmeyer got up and pushed Rodney out of her office.

---

"Of course, _John_. I'll be careful that he doesn't get hurt."

"Don't you dare leave him alone on the mainland, it's dangerous."

Rodney stopped packing his sack for a second and tried to calm down. "Look, he'll be fine!" he said, rising his arms in the air in a desperate manner. "And there's kids of his age that'll want to play with him" he said, more seriously.

John shook his head and turned around to continue to pack Alexander's stuff for the trip. "I'm just saying, McKay, that he's just a kid and he's not used to that place."

Making a face, the Canadian added: "Teyla's coming with us, so you don't have to worry. She said she wanted to visit her people."

Weirdly enough, that was enough to reassure John; Teyla would be there to check on Rodney while he checked Alexander. "Okay, okay. If ever something happens, you know the radio can still function on the mainland, right?"

Rodney rolled his eyes, but answered anyways: "Yes, _mommy_."

Sheppard shook his head; he had a feeling that nickname would stick for a long time. "Now go get Alexander, he's with Teyla. Lorne's waiting for you at the jumper bay." He gave the boy's backpack to Rodney. Their hands touched for a fraction of a second, but it was enough for John to feel weird about that; it had felt somewhat domestic, something he hadn't felt in years.

Rodney cleared his throat uncomfortably: "So, huh, what _you_ going to do, today?"

"Got a short mission on Proculus, Chaya's planet. You remember her? The priestess that was actually an ascended Ancient?"

"Yes" was the only thing the Canadian could find to say. Of course he remembered her, _and _the fact that she had 'scotched' herself to Sheppard the first time they had met her on her planet. "Yes, well, I'd better go. Lorne's waiting."

With that, Rodney left in a hurry.

As the door of his room closed, Sheppard frowned: "Well, that went weird."

---

The jumper landed smoothly on the ground. Lorne turned to McKay. "Well, have a nice day you three, I'll be back tomorrow morning around nine o'clock."

Nodding, Rodney took his and Alexander's backpack and Teyla took the boy's hand in her own.

As the door opened, the child waved to the military man: "Goodbye, mister Lorne!"

A few minutes later, they arrived to the village and were agreeably welcomed.

"It's good to see you all" Teyla started. "Rodney came here to get away from the stress on Atlantis."

A child that was within the crowd came near Alexander: "Who are you?"

Alexander looked at his father.

"Well? The cat got your tongue?" Rodney said to his son.

Alexander said then, with confidence: "My name is Alexander McKay-Sheppard. Nice to meet you" and he extended his hand to greet the other kid, like he was taught.

McKay then felt some kind of pride seeing his 'almost' son going on with such poise.

"Wanna play with me and my friends?" the Athosian boy said to Alexander, who looked at his father for permission.

"Of course, go" the scientist said. Then he added quickly as the two boys ran away: "Be careful! And stay close!" He then said to Teyla, who was beside him: "Sheppard would kill me if something happened to him."

She chuckled softly and motioned him to follow her.

---

As Rodney was calmly chatting with Teyla and some other Athosians, Alexander came inside the tent in a hurry.

The scientist quickly noticed something weird about the boy, so he inquired: "Hey, buddy, what's wrong? Why aren't you with the other kids?"

"But daddy, the other children don't wanna play with me" Alexander said, tears ready to fall.

Rodney was shocked to hear about this; how could children be so mean? "Come here" he motioned the boy, who almost threw himself into his arms. "Look, why don't we go talk to them, maybe they'll tell you why they don't want to play with you?"

Teyla put a hand on Rodney, meaning to be nice with the other kids.

Then Alexander also admitted: "I kinda have a booboo too." He bit his lip as he showed his left knee; he knew his father would be angry at him because he had told him to be careful.

"Here, let me see" Teyla said gently to the boy. It wasn't so bad, a nasty cut, but not very deep. Seeing Rodney was too concentrated on finding a way to explain this to John, she went and got the First Aid kit by herself.

---

"John, is there something bothering you? You seem absent-minded…" Chaya said, a bit sad that the man wasn't himself. She set down her cup of tea on the table between herself and John.

Sheppard shook his head: "No, everything's fine…" he looked in his own cup of tea, and admitted: "at least I hope they are." He looked at the woman and saw that she wanted the full answer; he knew she wouldn't accept a lie. "It's because my… son is not on Atlantis for the day, and… it's stupid, really. I'm just afraid something will happen." He laughed nervously.

Chaya looked surprised at the mention of a son, which destabilized her. She smiled sadly at John; she had thought that he was interested in her. She sighed mentally, knowing it was best not to show her disappointment and instead support him through his fears: "Well, he's not alone there, right? His mother must be with him?" Somehow, she had an impression that this woman was Teyla; she and John seemed to go along well.

The colonel chuckled lightly at Chaya's assumption. He didn't know how to break this to her: "Actually, his _dad_'s with him." He waited, kind of curious to see her reaction.

"What? But…" All kind of emotions flickered on her face. "You're… the mother?!"

John didn't answer immediately, knowing that Chaya wasn't stupid and she could come up with her own conclusion. He then took the time to explain to her what had happened, a month earlier.

While he talked, Chaya would listen intently, trying to understand the unbelievable story. When he finished, she giggled slightly: "Quite the story, John!"

"Yeah" he said calmly.

Chaya then leaned toward John, with a smile on her face. She took his hands and said serenely: "Then, go."

"What? Go where? What about the mission?"

Chaya rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, John. You came here just to check how things were doing, and you did. Now go back to your family and have fun."

"We're not a… family. It's simply because of a weird circumstance."

"Whatever you say, John" the priestess said with a mocking tone and a smile on her lips.

Calling his team, Sheppard prepared himself to leave. "Thank you, Chaya."

---

The day had been long for Alexander and Rodney; after the small injury had been taken care of, they went to see the other children to try to understand why they didn't want to play with the boy. The reason was actually very childish, because he didn't know all the games and questioned too much about everything they tried to explain to him.

Teyla then did have a great idea: she gave two fishing rods to Rodney so he could take Alexander fishing… which would have went well if the boy hadn't fallen in the water.

So, after a change of clothes and a nice evening meal, Alexander was ready to go to bed.

As Rodney tucked him in, the boy thanked him.

"What are you thanking me for, buddy?"

"Well," the child started, "it was fun."

"Yes it was, even with the little… accidents. Now sweet dreams" he ruffled Alexander's hair.

As he got up, the child said something else: "My dad… in the other universe… he never do fun stuff with me, like we did today."

Rodney stopped in his tracks. He didn't know what to say, so he sat back and listened.

Alexander bit his lip. "One time, I heard my mom talking with someone of Atlantis. He said my dad missed my birth… because he didn't see time passing by in the labs."

McKay took a deep breath. "Look, Alexander, I'm pretty sure you dad loves you. We all do. He's just… a little occupied with his responsibilities on Atlantis."

The child started sniffling, "but my mom also has big responsibilities… and he's able to play with me most of the time."

Rodney didn't know what to say anymore, he was about to try something when someone entered the tent. "Hey guys, what's… going on?"

The scientist was somewhat relieved that it was Sheppard. "Hey" he said uncomfortably and the other answered back with a smile, but was perplexed as to why their son was crying.

"I'll tell you later" Rodney said.

John shrugged and tried to enlighten the mood. So, he asked Alexander: "How was your day, buddy?"

The boy smiled and said he had a great time with his dad. He then turned to Rodney: "I love you, daddy" and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, what about me?" Sheppard said, faking jealousy, and got one too, with a 'I love you too, mommy'.

Rodney readjusted the bed covers and blew off the candle on the nightstand.

Both men left.

"Now how about you tell me what happened just when I entered?" Sheppard demanded.

Rodney was tempted to say 'I'll tell you later' again, but instead he went with: "Let's take a walk, I'll explain."

---

In his bed, Alexander dreamt of his amazing day and how he loved it in his new universe.

* * *

So this it, the 3rd story. This one is a bit longer than the second one lol

I am delighted to hear that a lot of you like the story! Many thanks for the nice reviews :)

The next one will take a while to get posted however, urgh got a lot of assignments to give in at the same time :( and since it's not yet written, it will influence the posting date.

So see you next time!


	4. Wondering

**Wondering**

On a lazy evening, after a mission, the team was eating at the mess hall.

Although nothing major had happened, they were exhausted and no one was talking much during the meal.

Alexander wasn't eating and John tried to push him to eat, at least half of his plate. But Alexander _didn't want to eat_. John was looking desperately at Rodney to see if he had any idea of how to make the boy eat.

The Canadian shrugged and when John turned to look at his other team mates, he saw a twinkle in Ronon's eyes. John raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what the tall man had in mind.

Clearing his throat, the tall man began: "Hey, 'Xander, how about having an eating contest with me to see who's gonna finish his plate first? Huh?" The Satedan grinned when Alexander's attention was on him. "If you win, I'll teach you a few moves to impress the girls."

"When do we start?!" the boy exclaimed.

"Now" Ronon grinned.

Ten minutes later, Alexander was done eating and gone with Ronon to practice that new move. Teyla excused herself, saying that she was going to meditate in her room.

Sheppard glanced at the sea. Sighing, he relaxed in the plastic chair and put his feet on the table.

Rodney rose an eyebrow: "What all that sighing's for?"

"I dunno… What if Alexander's parents never come to pick him up?"

"Huh?!"

Sheppard tried to explain himself better: "I meant, not that I want Alexander to leave… just that what would we do if, unlike what the other McKay said, they couldn't come back for him?"

"I don't know, really. Rodney thought quickly: "I guess we could always pass him as your son, since he does look more like you." The ears and the hair was indeed an obvious giveaway.

John chuckled sadly. "I can't imagine the awkward moments, should he call me 'mommy' in front of strangers."

"You mean, the awkward moments would simply grow tenfold in number" Rodney teased. He then added, with a more serious tone: "It'd be difficult, that's for sure. We couldn't send him to Earth, he knows too much… but he couldn't stay here, too much danger and he wouldn't get a proper education."

"Yeah…" There was a pause. Sheppard wanted to add something, but there was hesitation at first. "The other day, I was wondering what it would have been like if Alexander really were our son?" he asked. "Would our life be different because of that? Would it be like in his alternate universe?"

The scientist frowned. "I don't understand what you mean, Sheppard. He _is_ our son, Carson said it." In fact, what Rodney wasn't saying was that he _did_ understand what John had said. He just didn't want to admit it to himself that he almost wanted Alexander to stay with them.

John rolled his eyes at that. "Whatever, I know you know what I meant."

A long silence then followed.

John was a little bit surprised that McKay wasn't talking, like he always did. "Don't you have anything to say, _daddy_?"

It was then Rodney's turn to roll his eyes. "Let's see…" He thought for a second, "Okay. Scientifically speaking, what is your theory on this: how did your alternate self get _pregnant_?" He smirked at his fast thinking.

Sheppard exaggerated a pout. "Not fair, that question is way too hard."

The scientist scoffed: "And how can that be too difficult?" Looking at Sheppard for an answer, he saw that there was something that the other wasn't admitting; but since he didn't seem to want to talk about it, Rodney didn't press the matter.

"Come on, McKay, can't you ask another question?"

John didn't want to answer? Fine. He would offer his own theory. "Well, I think that it was probably an Ancient machine or something like that."

John made a face: "And where would they find something stupid like that?"

The other man shrugged: "Maybe Atlantis," and to this John turned green, "or most probably another planet. You never know what you'll find on an unexplored site."

John made a fake smile, "Geez Rodney, thanks for reassuring me!" he said sarcastically.

"Any time, Sheppard."

* * *

So okay, this is not the one I wanted to post, but since the other idea I had was not good enough, I simply scrapped it. This one is short, but I think that would it have been longer, it wouldn't have had the same impact. Oh well...

Thanks again everyone for the so awesome reviews! I love you all so much :)


	5. Engagement

**Engagement**

This was one of the most ordinary missions: having a peaceful meeting with a new population. One that has electricity, for Rodney's great enjoyment.

They had to walk from the gate to get to the city; of course Rodney had to complain all the way through.

"McKay, stop complaining!" Ronon growled, which had the effect of Rodney yelling that he was being bullied by Conan himself.

After five minutes of this, Sheppard wanted to tear his own head off, just so he wouldn't hear the Canadian complaining. Instead, he went with a swift move to turn around to face the concerned man: "If you don't stop complaining, I'm going to pin you to that tree."

That was enough for Rodney to close his mouth shut and stare at the colonel.

Ronon stood there, a questioning look on his face and Teyla seemed puzzled as well, but she had an idea of what was going on. She decided, however, that it wasn't her place to talk about this.

No one said anything as they continued silently, but tension could be felt, especially from Sheppard and McKay's part.

---

When they arrived to the city, they were greeted by a woman in her late twenties, at the main gate. She was pretty, with dark hair and a warm smile that could melt anyone's heart. Her hazel eyes were gleaming with mischievousness, as if she was about to pull a prank any moment.

She bowed slightly: "Good day, my name is Laja. I will be your guide."

Even though they had arrived only a few minutes ago, Rodney could already feel something dramatic was going to happen; the guide's eyes were always on him, watching his every movement. Everyone of the team was already charmed by her natural charisma.

A feeling of uneasiness invaded him and he couldn't stop thinking about the image of a succubus; he was almost sure that this guide was one… even though they were in a completely different galaxy… an alien succubus, maybe? He felt as though she was trying to pull him towards her, just like the snake would hypnotize its prey.

As they visited the city, he tried more than once to get Sheppard's attention to talk to him about his fears, but to no avail. He then tried to get closer to Teyla, convinced she would get the hint that he wanted to talk about something.

The Athosian woman did feel Rodney's discomfort, but she didn't understand why he was acting like that. "Rodney," she whispered, "calm down. There is nothing here to be afraid of, no immediate danger." She smiled soothingly, which worked a little, and said: "Don't worry, if something happens, we'll protect you."

Nodding, Rodney faked being reassured by Teyla's words. He knew that if the guide tried to jump his bones, no one would interfere… just because everyone thought that Rodney needed to get laid.

---

Finished with the city's principal attractions, they were going to the palace of Central City. The visit went rather well; the predator -aka their guide Laja- had yet to attack and it was making Rodney anxious.

Ronon could see the Canadian's fear. "McKay, is there something that you saw that should make us worry?" he said, leaning toward the other, but when Rodney shook his head, the Satedan continued: "Then why are you acting so weird?"

The scientist thought about sharing his fears to Ronon; but the tall man would probably laugh at him if he knew. So Rodney opted for a lie: "No, huh… probably just my imagination" he laughed loudly and nervously.

Even though the whole conversation had been whispered, Rodney's laugh brought everyone's attention to him.

Laja, the guide, asked gently: "Doctor McKay, is there something funny you would like to share with us?"

Sheppard looked at the scientist, rising an eyebrow.

Rodney quickly shook his head and the guided visit continued without interruptions.

---

Later in the afternoon, and they were all invited to eat with the city leader for the evening meal.

"How generous of you all" Teyla started, with her most diplomatic tone.

"Yes, we thank you" John had finished, with that flyboy smile of his.

They were all brought to a large room, decorated with taste with a table in its center. The moment Rodney saw that the guide was seating herself beside him at the table, he knew that he was doomed.

He immediately looked at Sheppard, who was sitting on his other side; he silently screamed at the colonel to help him.

And oh did the military man helped; he simply wiggled his eyebrows at Rodney, again with that smile of his. This ensemble of signals was actually very easy to understand for someone who was on the same team as Sheppard for two year: it meant 'Hey McKay, that girl's _really _into you! Do something about it!'

The scientist groaned and rolled his eyes; okay, he was all alone in this.

During the whole meal, all came out of Laja's mouth was how Rodney was great and smart and humble and extraordinaire and… yes, well, it's easy to get the point.

Rodney was about to yell: at Laja to shut up and at Sheppard who sent him looks to do something about the girl.

Exasperated at the whole situation, McKay tried to think of a plan that would get rid of her presence. He didn't know what to do; she wasn't ugly or anything, but he guessed that she wasn't his type. Of course, her intelligence could not match his and-

"What the hell!!!" he yelled; she just had put her hand on his thigh.

Everyone in the room turned to stare at Rodney, wondering what all that noise was about.

The scientist's face grew red and he panicked and tried to give a reason, but his thoughts were again interrupted. This time, it wasn't something like what Laja did. It was Sheppard and he didn't look very happy.

Leaning toward his team mate, John whispered through clenched teeth: "McKay… stop overacting or this mission will fail because of your stupidities again!" He retreated back to his seat, a smile on his face: "Do not worry, he'll be okay" he said to the table's occupants, while patting Rodney on the shoulder, as if nothing had happened.

"But-but, John!" Whining like a child, McKay tried to explain his situation, but the guide _again_ assaulted his personal bubble; however, this time she pinched his ass. Oh yes, she was very good at it; she was so discreet that no one would have noticed her 'activities' … if it wouldn't have been for Rodney's dramatic reactions.

He rose from his chair and threw his hands in the air: "Okay, I've had enough!"

The guide was so surprised, that all she could say was a weak "why?".

And that was what froze McKay on the spot; he didn't know what to answer.

He said the only thing that came to his mind. "I can't." He knew this wouldn't satisfy her, so his mind was racing, trying to come up with a reason; he looked around him and thought and thought, as if in a life or death situation. It's when he turned to look at Sheppard that it hit him hard: the pointy ears, the dark dishevelled hair. Alexander. "I already have an engagement toward someone!" he said, proud of his answer.

Chatter started going around the table.

The Canadian looked at the guide, to see her reaction, but Sheppard chose to speak first. "What the hell, McKay!?"

Rodney tried to motion John to go along, but failed miserably, so John was more than shocked when the scientist continued his little speech: "Yes, I have a son. And Sheppard here is the mother of the child."

There were different reactions to the declaration: someone choked on his food and others could only stared, wide eyes; others seemed curious and happy to have some kind of entertainment.

As for Sheppard, he covered his face in shame, cursing Rodney; although Teyla tried to keep a hold of herself, she couldn't help but outright giggle; however, Ronon was the one that was most out of character. He smirked widely and shouted: "Go, McKay! Show 'em what ya got!"

Then, someone whistled and that was the last straw for John; he got up and grabbed Rodney by his coat and dragged him away from the crowd. Just as they left the dining room, cat calls were heard; this only fuelled John's embarrassment further.

At the first door he saw, Sheppard opened it furiously and pushed Rodney inside. He took a deep breath to calm down and closed the door. Then, looking at the scientist straight in the eyes, he tried to get an explanation: "Okay, what was that?!"

Rodney was confused about John's reaction; the man was rarely angry. He stumbled on his words before admitting: "But it was only a joke."

"A… joke!" John scoffed; he still couldn't understand why. He rubbed his face with his hands, sensing that he was too angry at McKay to think clearly.

The Canadian frowned; feeling all that anger towards him unjustified. "Well yes! It was a joke! I don't get it why you're all upset about that!"

Sighing, John knew McKay didn't understand; he wasn't in the military. "Look, Rodney, I…" he stopped, not really knowing what to say. "You know how the military is very strict with same sex relationships… A simple joke like the one you just pulled could get me into trouble."

Rodney was speechless, he didn't think this was serious to John; he always seemed so laid back.

The military man sighed again: "I'm gonna have to explain to Teyla and Ronon that even though it was a joke, they shouldn't tell this to anyone."

McKay winced. "I'm sorry, John. I didn't want to cause you any trouble" he said with sincerity.

"I know" the other man answered, more calmly. He then looked at Rodney and asked, with a certain curiosity: "Though, why did you say such things, in the first place? Aren't you at least a bit interested in her?"

Looking at the floor, Rodney answered with a disappointment in his voice: "Not really… it's not that she's not pretty…" he wanted to add 'with her black hair and those hazel eyes' but noting her vague physical resemblance with Sheppard, he stopped there.

"It's not that she's not pretty, but she's not smart enough?"

The Canadian's realization had stunned him, so he quickly answered a simple "Yeah, yeah" with a wave of the hand.

A silence was the sign that the problem was sorted out so Sheppard said: "Well we should be going back before… they think we're doing something." He opened the door and mentioned Rodney to follow, but the other man simply stood there.

"But, what am I gonna do with Laja???" he asked, semi-panicked at the idea of having to face her.

Sheppard rolled his eyes and answered nonchalantly: "Okay, fine, you can continue with your story of… 'engagement', but as soon as we're out of here, you don't talk about this to anyone!"

Rodney quickly nodded and they walked back toward the dining room, where everyone awaited their return.

* * *

Hello people! Sorry for the long wait, but school and my real life is way more important than updating. Anywhoo, this chapter _was_ funny in my head, but when I wrote it, I found it less funny XD And no, this wasn't about marriage, like the title seemed to imply, it was more like a "commitment".

Oh and I'll try to update soon, maybe a Christmas-y one!


	6. Maybe maybe not

**Maybe… maybe not.**

Sheppard had been sitting in that chair, for five long minutes, without uttering a single word.

Heightmeyer tried to guess, from that silence, why the colonel was sitting in her office.

"Listen, colonel, I know that it must have taken you a lot to come here by your own volition… but if you don't say at least _why_ you are here, I can't help you." Although she did have an idea of the reason, she wanted to hear it from Sheppard himself.

The words came out fast at first: "Okay, so maybe it has something to do with Rodney…"

The psychologist rose an eyebrow and started to write something in her notebook that John couldn't see.

"I think the friendship we had, it's… changing" the man declared sadly.

The psychologist hummed and then asked bluntly: "Do you like those changes or not?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Well, it's simply to help you understand the situation." She paused for a second. "Those changes that you are talking about, what are they? Is it something big?"

Sheppard sighed. "It's just that… since Alexander appeared, Rodney hasn't been acting like he always had. It's like we can't fool around anymore… and there's the kid that's always around me, like… like he wants me to act a certain way." His eyes locked with the psychologist, desperate to understand.

Heightmeyer nodded. "Yes, colonel. All of this can be very confusing." Writing more notes, she added: "Now, let's talk a bit about Alexander first: how do you feel toward him?"

The man scowled. "I guess I could say that I feel the need to protect him, like he's fragile or something. But at the same time, I don't really want him here… I know it sounds a lot selfish" he said, looking outside the window. "But it's dangerous around here, not a place for a kid, ya know."

The woman nodded and asked: "Do you feel a connection with Alexander, since he's with you most of the time?"

Sheppard wondered where she was going with that. He frowned: "I know that sometimes he looks at me with that strange look… otherwise, no, there's no connection that I'm aware of."

"I see. I think what Alexander is searching for is the connection that links a mother to her child-"

"-and how do you want me to have this?!" Sheppard cut in. "I'm not his damn mother!" he said, gripping the arms of the chair with his hands.

Heightmeyer wanted to calm down the atmosphere: "It's fine John. I just wanted to tell you that this connection cannot be in this universe, _because_ you are not the 'other' John Sheppard."

The colonel put his face in his hands and said, with a muffled voice: "I know." He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "I think that there's too much going on right now. That's all."

"It's normal. Someone of your rank has a lot on their mind." Heightmeyer then tried to bring up another subject. "You said that your friendship with Rodney changed… is there …" she hesitated to choose the next words, "…something _more_?"

Sheppard looked reluctantly at the woman facing him. Before saying anything, he had to get something cleared first: "Everything that I'm about to say, stays here… right? In this office, between you and me?"

Heightmeyer smiled politely. "Of course, colonel. You are under the protection of medical confidentiality. The military won't know a thing about what you're going to tell me," she rose her eyebrow, "unless you have suicidal or homicidal tendencies?"

Sheppard immediately shook his head. "No, nothing like that."

"Good, then. Go ahead, and we'll try to understand what's going on together." She put her hand on John's, to reassure him.

The man stared back at her blankly. "I… don't know where to start."

Sitting back into her bulky armchair, Heightmeyer simply hummed. "Would you like me asking you questions, then?"

"No… It's okay, I think I know where to start. You see… I think that Rodney has been weird ever since he saw that video of his alternate self…" He then paused.

"But, John, I think that it would be better if we talked about yo-"

"-I'm getting there" John cut her. After she motioned him to continue, he simply added: "I think the most recent event… yes. I think it was at the Christmas party… we were at Jeannie's place…"

_--__--- Flashback -----_

_All __were sitting in the living room: Alexander and Madison were drawing; the adults were catching up on what had happened since they last saw Jeannie, when she had been kidnapped by Henry Wallace. Caleb had urged them to sit down and talk together while he checked on his tofu turkey._

_However, the inevitable question popped up: "So… who's the boy?" the curly-haired woman said, looking questionably at her brother, then at the colonel. _

_Rodney and Sheppard exchanged a glance, and then the Canadian admitted: "He's my son, Jeannie."_

"_What!?" The woman looked at the boy drawing, on the floor and then looked back at her brother: "Meredith! How come you never told me?" the woman finished her sentence with a hurt tone. "How come you were able to hide him all this time? He must be four or something like that…" She then gasped: "How come his mother's not here?" stopped there, not sure if she wanted the answer._

_Again, the two men from Atlantis shared a look__, not sure how to bring up the subject._

_So, bluntly, Rodney announced: "This is Alexander's mother" and pointed at Sheppard._

_For the first ten seconds, there was silence. These were soon over and then Jeannie exploded in exclamation: "What? How did that happen!!... Oh I mean, I'm happy for you two… well, yes!" A lot of emotions crossed her features, but she settled with a shy smile._

_Caleb came into the living room to see what was going on. "Is there something wrong, honey?"_

_Rodney __completely ignored his brother-in-law and almost screamed at his sister: "WHAT!? No! That's not what you were supposed to say!"_

_Jeannie frowned. She threw her hands in the air and scoffed: "Oh yeah? Then _what_ was I supposed to say?! I mean-"_

"_-Aren't you normal?! Anyone would have laughed and said something like 'Oh very funny, Rodney! Stop kidding now, where's the mom?'" Rodney near-shouted, trying to understand why Jeannie didn't have the same reaction as everybody else._

_As the said woman was going for another round of shouting at Rodney, John got up and __quickly cut in, trying to act as a mediator: "Okay! Let's calm down now!" He looked at his friend: "Rodney, you shouldn't have said it that way." He then turned to Jeannie: "Look… please calm down, we'll explain." _

_Seeing that the woman gave up and motioned him to talk, the colonel took a deep breath. "What Rodney said isn't entirely true: _Yes_, Alexander is indeed our son,"_

_As soon as he paused, Jeannie tried to ask questions, so he continued his explanation: "However, he's our son… in an alternate dimension. So that's why you didn't hear about him until now. He's only been with us for a few months."_

_Jeannie again tried to speak, but before any could be said, Rodney warned her: "We don't know much about this other universe… other than me being his father and Sheppard here," he smiled mockingly, "our dear son's mother."_

_John__ replied with a fake smile: "Why thank you, Rodney, for that _beautiful_ explanation." If the scientist would have been able to read between the lines, he would have understood something more like 'I'm so gonna get you back for this'; but sadly, Rodney couldn't read between the lines. _

"_Okay, since no one's really __paying attention to what I say, I'll be in the kitchen" Caleb said with a troubled expression._

_Jeannie, however, still couldn't compute a detail. "So… you two aren't really together?"_

_--__--- End of Flashback -----_

"Yes, this got me thinking."

"Is there a reason why you ask yourself these questions?" Heightmeyer asked.

"Well… it seemed as though she thought that we were together… I dunno, maybe I'm wrong." Sheppard put his hands in his face in shame: "Gosh I feel like a school girl… trying to see something that's definitely not there."

"John, don't talk like this. You came here to discuss, so you could understand better your emotions." The psychologist then crossed her legs and readjusted her notebook on her lap. "Is there anything else that got you to ponder on the subject?"

Sheppard didn't need a lot of time before another event brought back uncomfortable memories. He closed his eyes for a minute, trying to find how he would put this into words without it appearing too weird… "Well, the beginning was filled in by Teyla, because I don't remember getting to there in the first place…"

----- _Flashback -----_

_The team was__ in the infirmary, waiting for John to wake up. He had been injured during their last mission and he was stable, though unconscious. Even though Beckett didn't like having all these people present, he knew that they cared deeply for the military man and he let them stay as long as they kept quiet._

_Ronon and Teyla didn't have any problems respecting the infirmary's rules, but Rodney was another matter. He kept on babbling that they should have listened to his warning and then everyone would be okay... especially John. "Dammit, how am I going to explain this to Alexander?"_

_Teyla gently put her hand on his: "Don't worry Rodney, the colonel got shot and lost a lot of blood… let him rest a bit. He'll be fine."_

_The scientist mumbled something but let it go. _

_Rodney would check on Sheppard, every five minutes or so, to make sure he wouldn't miss something happening._

_Half an hour later__, Alexander came running in, out of breath. "Daddy??" he said, with some tears in his blue eyes. Jumping in his father's arms, he asked: "Is mommy gonna be alright?" He then looked up, hope written all over his young face. He sniffed and dried his tears the best he could with his sleeve._

"_Of course I'm okay" John said with a groan. "Gosh, those lights are bright" he said, trying to sit up._

"_Mommy!"_

_Teyla spoke quickly: "Colonel, you shouldn't try to sit, you are wounded in your leg and torso. Try to take it easy while I get Dr Beckett. I'll be back in a minute" and walked away._

_Ronon smirked slightly: "Good to see you'll survive." And with that, he patted the colonel's foot and left, saying he had "some marines to train"._

_As for __Alexander, he didn't waste time to climb up on the bed and hug John, with great carefulness of course. "I missed you, mommy."_

_At that, John rolled his eyes, but answered anyway: "Yeah, me too, buddy."_

_Rodne__y sighed with relief, but was surprised when the boy sat back and straightened his back. _

"_Mommy, daddy," __Alexander said, with the most serious tone in the world. He looked at both men, looking not much like a four-year-old, but more like a business man: "I know it's not really the time to talk about this,"_

_Rodney then shot a glance at Sheppard, trying to understand what their son was going to announce them, but the other man just shrugged._

"… _you see, my birthday is in a little more than a month, and I know what I want as a present." He paused, but didn't let any of the two men add anything. "I won't be picky: I want either a little sister or a little brother." He then nodded to himself, happy with the formulation of his demand._

_A muffled laugh coming from Beckett and Teyla were the only sound heard, before the two 'parents' exclaimed a loud "WHAT!?" at the same time._

_---_

_After the whole incident, Beckett had declared that the colonel would be fine, but was staying in the infirmary for at least 24 hours to be monitered. _

_Alexander, after assessing his 'mother's' health went to the mess hall with Teyla for dinner._

_Rodney was still sitting at Sheppard's side and seemed to want something. So, the military man rose an eyebrow. "Yes, Rodney?" he inquired._

_The Canadian hesitated a bit, then admitted: "Poor Alexander, he must feel alone here, on Atlantis, without kids of his age…"_

_Sheppard immediately glared at the other: "Mc~kay" he warned, "if you are thinking what I think you're thinking, forget about it. He's NOT getting a 'little brother'."_

"_I know, just kidding" Rodney snickered. He got up and patted John's shoulder: "I'll be going, got scientists to yell at. You know, the usual stuff."_

_----- End of Flashback -----_

"I think that I do understand that Alexander can be lonely sometimes, but it's not like we can do anything about it."

Heightmeyer agreed: "Of course, John, he came here unexpected. As you said earlier, this is not a place for children."

The military man bit his lip, trying to find another good example of how Rodney and his' friendship has taken a weird turn. "Well… there's also this time. We were eating dinner in the mess hall. There was lemon pie for dessert…"

----- _Flashback -----_

_Sitting on the plastic chair, the boy was swinging his legs. "I love lemon pie!" he exclaimed._

_Teyla smiled: "Yes, it is good indeed."_

_One could guess the reaction from Rodney, who was also sitting at that table. "What?! Alexander! You can't like citruses. I'm allergic to them!" Feigning humiliation, he turned to face Sheppard, "are you sure you didn't cheat on me? Because _my_ son can't like citruses!"_

_Everyone around them started to laugh._

_John__, not knowing what to say, just got up and left. He couldn't stand the others laughing. _

"_Sheppard, wait!" Rodney got up to catch the other man. _

_--__--- End of Flashback -----_

He stared blankly in front of him.

"John?" Heightmeyer inquired, seeing that the event had affected him more than he let on. "How did that make you feel?"

"I… don't know. Angry… humiliated… " Stopping there, Sheppard got up brusquely. "Errr… Thanks Kate, but I have to go," he said, putting his usual flyboy smile, "got some stuff to finish before we go back on off-world missions."

Heightmeyer didn't try to talk John into staying; she knew that their little conversation would bear its fruit. "Of course, John." She smiled: "I understand how busy the head of military can be."

She accompanied him to the door of her office: "See you soon, John." And before he could contradict her or answer anything else, she shooed him outside and closed the door. There. He had no choice but to return.

Outside, in the hallway, John released the breath he had been holding. He started to understand a bit better his emotions, but the solution wasn't coming to him. With that, he walked his quarters to change his clothes; maybe a little run will help to clear his mind.

* * *

Oh damn, time goes by so fast!!!! Sorry guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which is the second to last one. I really think this chapter sucked bad, as well as the one before... Oh well. Reviews are welcomed :)


	7. It was only

**It was only…**

_There was nothing better than basking in the morning light, a warm and gentle wind blowing through the tree branches.__ There was a child playing and a dog barking in the background._

_On a blanket, __Sheppard was lying down on his back with his eyes closed when a child's voice called for him._

"_Mommy." It was Alexander._

_The man simply opened his eyes and tried to sit, but was stopped when he felt some weight stopping him. Trying to focus on the problem, he saw that it was actually his own belly that was in the way. He then looked up as Alexander came close and sat down beside him. _

"_Can I feel the baby?"_

_Sheppard was stunned at what the boy had said. But he didn't have time to think about it, that someone else came by. This time it was Rodney. "Alex, leave your mom alone, he's trying to relax, can't you see?"_

_Then, Rodney too sat on the blanket. "So, how do you like it? This little trip on Earth is nice, right? It was a nice thing of SGA to give us some time off before our daughter's birth."_

_John tried to ask what was going on, but he found that his voice was barely above a whisper and couldn't say a thing. Rodney didn't seem to notice, and Alexander went back to play with the dog._

_Again, John tried to say something, but no words came out of his mouth. Panic started to invade him and then everything turned to dark._

Sheppard woke up with a start. What the hell was that? He turned his head on the side, to see if he had woken up anyone in his brusque movements. When he heard Rodney and Alexander snore, he was at peace of mind; he could then try to analyse his… dream? Nightmare? He didn't know what to think.

Rubbing his face with both hands, he wanted to get up, but feared that he'd wake up someone. He sighed loudly; why the hell did he have that dream?

He told himself that maybe if he didn't think about it, he would forget about it.

But as the hour passed, he tried to go back to sleep in vain. He could not sleep. Going against he had thought earlier, he slowly got up without a sound and walked toward the bathroom. Maybe just moving would help him sleep afterward; but as he stared at the toilet in front of him, he couldn't stop thinking of that dream.

After doing his business, he looked at himself in the mirror. Contemplating for a few minutes, he was startled by a soft knock on the bathroom door.

'Sheppard? Is everything okay?'

It was Rodney. John then opened the door to come face to face with the Canadian. He shook his head and added with a smile: "Of course, Rodney."

As the military man brushed past the scientist to go back to his bed, the latter stopped him. "Hey if it was a nightmare… you know you can talk to me, right?"

That single question made John to think. He trusted Rodney and Rodney trusted him. They were friends; but could he share that strange dream in which he was more than just a friend? He decided that no, he shouldn't, in case it'd ruin what they have now. So, he just nodded and thanked the Canadian.

Before reaching his bed on the floor, he checked on Alexander and was satisfied that the boy hadn't been woken up because of the noise.

Lying down on his bed, he heard Rodney coming back from the bathroom and sitting down on his own bed, sighing. John felt guilty from not sharing his dream, but at the same time, he felt that he shouldn't. He mentally cursed himself for making things ever more complicated and brought covers over his head so that he could try to go back to sleep. Maybe the night would bring him guidance.

* * *

Okay, so maybe I was able to write another chapter. So, now THIS is the second to last chapter before the end... I know, I know, this one was short, but I wanted it to be like this. I hope it wasn't as boring as my last one... sorry! Oh yeah, and reviews... please, I miss them so much! I can't know if you guys like it or not. Bye-bye for now!


	8. Of clenched teeth and explosions Pt I

**Of clenched teeth and explosions - Part 1**

It happened to be the biannual check on planet M7G-677.

Yet again, Rodney was able to flee the duty of checking out the shield's status on the children's planet. Just like many times before, he had designated Zelenka as the "best they got for that mission"… which resulted in a series of swearing in Czech.

A small team, which consisted of Ronon, Lorne, two marines, two scientists (Dr Simpson and Dr Zelenka) and Alexander, was leaving for M7G-677. The only reason Sheppard and Rodney let Alexander leave Atlantis without them was because Ronon was going with the team. However, that didn't stop them from fussing over the poor boy to make sure everything was fine before they all left.

Sheppard was about to check again his son's backpack when Alexander shouted: "Mom! Stop it. I'm not a baby anymore. And Ronon is coming with us, we'll be fine."

Elizabeth chuckled at the family moment.

Rodney rolled his eyes and answered the boy: "Okay, _maybe_ you're almost five years old now. But that doesn't bypass the fact that you inherited Sheppard's curiosity and bad luck. Better to check everything."

John looked at Rodney to defend himself, but he didn't have time to say anything that Elizabeth gave the okay to dial the address of the planet's gate.

As soon as the team walked through the gate, it shut off. After, everyone returned to their occupation while Rodney and John were left standing alone, staring at the unactivated gate.

A wave of anxiety quickly reached Rodney's mind; something would go wrong, he knew it, he could almost taste it.

It must have shown on his face, because John gave him a pat on the shoulder: "Don't worry, Ronon's with them." And with that, he walked away, leaving Rodney standing there.

(-)

When he got to the other side, Alexander couldn't help himself and exclaimed loudly: "That was fun! Can we do it again?" Looking expectantly at Lorne, his eyes were shining with amazement. The man could only shake his head and smile at the boy's reaction.

They were warmly welcomed by a part of the population of M7G-667 as soon as they had stepped out the gate. Alexander was impressed by this reception; it was his first time offworld. Of course, he had been a few times on the mainland with his parents and Teyla, both in his universe and in this one. However, to go through that gate, it was entirely something else.

"Greetings, people of Atlantis", Keras, their leader declared. "We are happy to see you, my friends. Let us march toward the village where you can refresh yourself and we can then talk about your visit."

(-)

Rodney was too concentrated on his laptop and simulations to be aware of anyone entering the lab. His fingers tapping against the table, he was getting impatient with the computer. It was the third time he had to change the calculations and he still couldn't achieve a perfect simulation; he knew there was something to be done to optimize their ZPM, yet it seemed so far away.

"Don't you think this is ridiculous?"

McKay was startled by the voice. Turning around to the source, he answered a quick annoyed: "What?"

"Oh come on, McKay, don't act so grumpy. You should thank me instead" Colonel Sheppard said, with a mocking smile.

Rodney simply rose an eyebrow: "And for what? And what's ridiculous?" He crossed his arms, showing he was waiting for answers.

Sheppard brought forward a wrapped sandwich and a piece of cake. "You didn't come to the mess hall to have lunch. My guess was right; you were too taken by your work to think about eating." It was his turn to rise and eyebrow. "Am I right?"

Rodney made a face: "Yeah well. Whatever. It's not like I am dying of hunger."

Sheppard just rolled his eyes and pushed the food in Rodney's direction. "Now eat your sandwich. Or else, no dessert."

With a crooked smile, Rodney replied: "Yes, _mommy_."

(-)

Alexander was liking the children of M7G-667 a lot more than the ones from the mainland. They were more mature and liked his games.

As he was playing hide and seek with a few children, Ronon was watching him from afar, as the two scientists were examining the Zero Point Module. During that time, Lorne and his marines were nearby, teaching a few things about combat techniques to the village's soldiers.

Getting bored from just standing there, Ronon told the others that he was going to scout the area.

As he walked along the forest path, he felt as though he was being watched, which somewhat annoyed him. However, he had been previously assured by McKay that there was no danger on that planet. He payed no further attention: "Probably a kid."

(-)

Sheppard was bored. His paperwork was up to date, and he had nothing to do. Maybe a bit of training with Teyla would do him good. He still needed practice with the banto sticks.

Getting up, he took the direction of the training room to see if Teyla was there, but unconsciously, his feet took him to the labs instead.

As he reached the door, he let out a confused "What the? How did I get here?"

The sun was setting on M7G-667 and the scientific team of Atlantis was done tweaking yet again the shields of the village to ensure its durability.

As everyone was en route to the Stargate, Ronon felt again that strange presence.

"What's wrong mister Ronon?" asked innocently Alexander. The four-year-old could see that the tall Satedan was preoccupied.

Not wanting to alert the others, Ronon just answer that there was nothing, to which the boy shrugged.

As they got to the gate, Lorne walked to the dialer, and as he was about to touch the first symbol when the gate activated itself and a dart came out, its beam dematerializing a dozen of Wraiths.

The Atlantis team readied their weapons, while encircling Alexander and the scientists to protect them. Zelenka panicked while cursing in Czech. Why did it have to happen now?

Ronon growled at a Wraith that tried to come closer to them. "What do you want?"

A Wraith, who seemed to be the leader of the group by his looks, approached Ronon and said calmly: "We were told that you would come on this planet. We want colonel Sheppard."

"Well he's not here, obviously" Ronon barked back. "Now leave us."

The leader smirked: "Of course we know he's not with you. That's why we are taking you as hostages." He then made a signal and everyone, except Dr Simpson and the leader, was beamed into the dart. He then warned her, before being beamed himself: "You will contact Atlantis. I want you to inform them that if they don't send colonel Sheppard within a day, a hostage will be sacrificed every hour. We'll be waiting in space in our cruiser ship."

Simpson gasped at the gravity of the situation. She hurried to dial Atlantis' address, fearing for her teammates' life.

(-)

Ronon was already getting impatient, waiting in that Wraith prison. It had been a few hours since they were taken prisoners.

The others were sitting at the back of the cell, trying to act brave in Alexander's presence. They also wanted to protect him from those creatures in case something happened. They all hoped they would be rescued before anything bad could happen.

Alexander was sitting beside Lorne and clinging to the man's coat. His tummy ached and he was cold; he was hungry and scared. How much he wanted his mommy right now... and his daddy... and Atlantis. He started sniffling and before he knew it, he was one-arm hugged by Lorne who was trying to cheer him up.

"Hey little buddy, what's wrong?" A reassuring smile, trying not to upset the child.

Alexander tried to act courageous, but deflated almost instantly and started to cry: "I want my mommy." Bottom lip quivering and hot ears were falling from his blue eyes, making everyone in the cell jump at the small outburst.

The members of the team stared at each other, trying to see if the boy would calm down by himself, but nothing happened. A few of them looked uncomfortable.

Lorne, trying his gentlest tone, offered: "Come on, Alexander, don't cry. We'll get out of here soon enough."

Nothing would do, the boy only cried louder and his face was starting to become red. "I want my mommy!"

Ronon was not someone with a lot of communication skills. That, pretty much everyone knew of. However, they did not see his short and brusque comment coming: "Will you just shut up! You'll alert the guards!" he half-yelled, half-whispered through clenched teeth.

Alexander's tears slowed down because he got frightened, but it didn't stop. So Lorne decided to reformulate Ronon's words into something that the boy would understand better: "Look, son. What Ronon said is that you are not helping our situation if you continue to panic like this."

The four-year-old looked up to the major with watery eyes. "But-but..."

"No buts, if you get us in trouble, how will your parents and Dr. Weir save us?" Lorne continued, trying to reason the boy. He knew that he would at least understand the importance of keeping low profile.

Everyone watched as the child quieted down to only sniffs and hugged Lorne as he closed his eyes and settled beside him.

A silent collective sigh could be felt as Alexander softly snored.

Ronon smirked at Lorne: "Good job, major Lorne."

The military man sighed. "Let's just hope that _mommy_ and _daddy_ come soon 'cause I don't think this trick will last for long." He then brought the boy closer as he shivered slightly in his sleep.

(-)

Rodney was pacing around the conference room.

This was irritating Sheppard.

"Rodney, we can't give them what they want!" Elizabeth tried to reason the Canadian.

The said man shook his head: "I know. There has to be a way to rescue them without surrending. There's always a way!"

Sheppard got up. Tired of waiting as well, he proposed: "I'll go. I'll surrender. Then... then, when everyone is put to safety, I'll deal with them." He looked directly into Elizabeth's eyes to confirm his serious decision.

"WHAT? Are you insane?" McKay interjected, putting his fist on a table nearby. "There's no way we're giving them what they want." As Sheppard was going to say something again, he cut him before he could: "No, John. There is another way. I'm sure of it. I just need more time."

Sheppard frowned. "We don't have _time_, McKay. Our son's life is on the line, as well as our friends'! We must act now before it's too late!"

"Oh why do you have to be so _dramatic_? I told you I would find something, and I will!" Rodney yelled.

"OKAY. LET'S CUT IT HERE" Elizabeth said loudly. She was tired of all that bickering. "It's not by yelling at each other that you will find an answer."

Teyla nodded. "Elizabeth is right. I think that we must focus our energy on the problem."

Sheppard shot a hand through his hair with frustration: "Look. We don't have much choice. Our best team is being held hostage! How can we think of realizing a rescue!"

McKay cut in: "But we don't know what they want to do with you! What if they kill you as soon as you step on that ship and kill the hostages at the same time instead of releasing them?" He looked at the military man with serious, yet worried eyes.

Elizabeth then had an idea. "What if we send a jumper to accompany the colonel? Then, we would be able to react if something happens."

"Not a bad idea, but it's a bit weak. They will notice that we are preparing something..." Rodney mentioned. "I guess we don't have much choice. We'll have to work with that plan."

* * *

Err... yeah, sorry for not updating in... centuries! lol. I've been working seven days a week since January, so yeah... very busy.

So here is another one-shot... lol I keep saying that "this is the second to last" well... yeah. I think that it's my subconscious telling me that I don't want this to end. Pathetic. This one took me a while to write. It started as something small, but as I kept writing, I added and added and that's the result. I am really proud of this one. I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

Whatev', the second part is coming! Already written. I just didn't want to post this 5000 word monster in one chapter XD Please leave reviews! I wanna know if you liked it or not! It's very important for me so I can keep improving :)


	9. Of clenched teeth and explosions Pt II

**Of clenched teeth and explosions - Part 2**

As the Wraith guards would come to check on the prisoners every once in a while, the entire team would silence and not disturb, fearing the worst. Ronon would watch the Wraith with a hateful gaze the whole time.

Then when the guard would leave and they would let go of the breath they had been holding.

(-)

"Okay, McKay, are you ready?" John said, using his radio. They were now in the jumper bay, ready to leave for M7G-677.

Rodney, in the other jumper could only answer: "_I don't have much choice, now._"

Their plan was simple: John and two marines would reach the cruise ship by jumper. Rodney and another team of marines accompanied by Teyla would follow in a cloaked jumper. The Wraiths, seeing that Sheppard was with two marines, wouldn't be able to guess that more were hidden by the second jumper's invisible cloak. As soon as John would be taken away, they would then leave and find the hostages to rescue them. _Then_, when everyone is safe, they would go rescue John.

"Okay then, let's do this" Sheppard told everyone.

The gate was activated and they left.

As soon as they were on the planet, Rodney cloaked his jumper and they left for space.

What they didn't know was that, hidden in the forest, sets of eyes had seen that second jumper.

When they had arrived, as predicted, there was an escort of four Wraith waiting for Sheppard.

John was chained and the marines, stunned with guns.

As they left, Teyla took charge of the team and they brought inside the cloaked jumper the stunned soldiers to protect them. "Now we must find Ronon and the others." She then looked at Rodney. "Do you have the life detector ready?"

Rodney nodded. He hoped the Wraith hadn't tortured anyone.

It took them around twenty minutes to go through the maze the ship was. Fortunately, they hadn't come across any guards.

When they reached the cell, both rescuers and hostages felt relieved.

"Oh my gosh, Alexander!" Rodney said as he ran towards the boy as soon as the cell door was opened.

He hugged the boy so hard, as if he was clinging to life itself. A tear almost escaped his eye, but the moment was still too dangerous to take a breath.

No one dared to comment that, fearing Rodney's wrath if they made fun of the sentimental moment.

The boy was crying with relief at seeing his father, but then realized something: "Where's mommy?" His blue eyes, full of confusion. He could see the other marines, but his mother wasn't there.

Rodney couldn't look at his son in the eyes: "Yes, well. We should get going. Come on, Alexander. We have to move fast, danger's still around the corner. Teyla's waiting for us in the jumper." He picked up the boy in his arms and started to walk fast, surrounded by the team of marines.

"But what about mommy? Where is he?" Alexander asked again, a slice of panic in his voice.

"Shush, Alexander. We need to move quickly. Or else they'll find us" was all Rodney added.

The boy could only cling to his father strongly, and keep his fears at bay; they were in danger and he had to be brave. Still, it didn't stop silent tears from falling.

The marines moved closer to Rodney and the hostages they had just rescued. They had to reach the jumper before going to help the colonel.

(-)

During that time, the said man was chained, sitting on his heels in the command room of the Wraith ship cruiser and being interrogated by the leader.

"So, colonel Sheppard. Nice to finally meet you."

The military man just glared at the commander, not answering. He wanted to spit so bad in that creep's face.

"Fine, you prefer silence. It will be better if you are silent to listen to what I have to say, anyway." He then waited, to see if John would take the bait, but he did not, which angered the the Wraith slightly.

Sheppard still didn't say anything and sat there on the floor, making his chains cling together, showing his impatience.

When the Wraith didn't say continue his little speech, John finally spat with hate: "What? Haven't killed me yet? What are you waiting for?"

A chuckle from the Wraith was the first answer the man got. "You humans are a lot funnier when you're angry." He was then cut by a Wraith who came into the room; whispers were exchanged and the commander smiled widely: "Oh that is quite _interesting_." He then dismissed the Wraith who left the room. "I heard that your friends are here to save the hostages."

Sheppard's breath hitched for a second; the Wraiths knew. He tried to regain a certain composure in front of the enemies, not wanting to show weakness.

The Wraith commander just smirked and went further with his newfound plan: "Now call your friends and tell them that you will stay on this ship and that if they want to survive, they will leave this ship really fast."

Sheppard tried to get up to retaliate, but he was kicked down by the Wraith guard beside him. He dropped to the floor with a muffled "Oomph".

"Now, will you listen and do as I say or do I have to tell my guards to capture everyone?"

John shot a glare at his opponent, but abandoned in the end. His plan was failing and he didn't have any choice if he wanted everyone safe. The Wraith didn't seem to want him dead, so might as well go along with what he wanted, at least until the others were far from danger. "Fine. I'll tell them. But I can't use my radio with these chains."

The commander signaled the guard to help Sheppard by tapping the radio just like the human instructed him to do.

(-)

"_Huh... guys? I think that we've been caught." _Sheppard said through the radio.

Rodney was surprised by the voice and the nature of the message. He wasn't able to stop himself from snapping back: "What? It's not funny, John!"

The moving gang stopped, curious of the message.

"_Well, the Wraiths know that you guys are here. They saw you freeing the hostages_" Sheppard admitted.

Rodney cursed. "Impossible! We've been extra careful!"

Zelenka tried to calm down the Canadian, but it only flared Rodney's anger. "Will you just shut up Radek! I'm trying to think here!"

"_Rodney, don't put your frustration on the poor guy. Look, I want you guys to leave the ship."_

"Daddy, what's going on?" Alexander asked, worried. He didn't like his father's tone of voice.

Rodney tried a reassuring smile: "Nothing, squirt. Leave this to the grown-ups." He then returned to his conversation with Sheppard, on the radio: "Are you crazy? And leave you here?"

A sigh could be heard on the other side of the radio: "_Yes, Rodney. Now leave before the Wraiths change their mind and instead keep you guys prisoner here as well... and that's an order. Take care of Alexander. Sheppard, out._"

The communication then cut.

Confusion could be read in everyone's eyes. One of the marines dared to ask first: "So, what are we gonna do?"

Rodney shook his head. "We have to go rescue Sheppard."

Zelenka knew the Canadian was out of his mind: "Rodney, you know we can't do this. You heard colonel Sheppard. The Wraith are letting us go."

Lorne then added: "Yes. The colonel gave us an order. We have to execute it. We _have_ to leave."

Rodney tried to find another solution, while Alexander tried to understand what was going on: "Daddy?"

When the man looked at his son, he was able to take a decision. He couldn't risk the boy getting hurt. "Okay. Let's move" he said, reluctantly.

The gang resumed their journey towards the jumper in the dart room.

As they got to the small Ancient ships, they divided into two groups. In the first jumper, the pilot was major Lorne and in the other, a marine with the ATA gene. Rodney entered the first one then put Alexander into Teyla's arms and turned around.

The Athosian immediately stopped Rodney. She knew what the scientist had in mind: "Dr McKay, don't go. If you go there and something happens to you and colonel Sheppard, your son could be orphaned." She then added: "So get in here while we still can and we'll think of something else on Atlantis."

When the man didn't budge, she told Lorne to start the engines of the first jumper and the door closed, stopping McKay to leave the jumper. "Think of Alexander" she pleaded.

As the jumpers took off, many thoughts ran into Rodney's mind.

(-)

Back in the command room of the Wraith ship, Sheppard hoped his friends had reached the jumpers in the dart room. "Will you just tell me what you want me for? If you don't want to kill me, there has to be a reason. Now tell me!" He decided to be cocky, he was tired of being patient. Maybe it would endanger his life, but not his friends and family's.

This tone of voice only served to amuse the commander. "Impatient, are we?"

John was about to reply viciously, but was kicked on his side by the guard beside him, influencing him to calm down. The man groaned on the floor.

The commander went forward: "I want you to destroy another cruise ship that thinks we've betrayed our Queen."

Sheppard looked intently at the Wraith commander: "Well... did you?"

"That's none of you business. You only have to destroy it."

The colonel could only get angry: "What the hell do you want me to do on my own! Make it explode with my thoughts? Flash news, buddy: I can't do that!"

That's when the Wraith smirked. "You see, colonel Sheppard," he started, with pride in his voice. "That's where you are wrong. We found a machine that was built by the Ancients. It's a bomb that can be activated with the ATA gene, which we learned you possess, and a strong one, at that."

"So, you have a plan?" John asked, hoping they didn't intend to leave him on that ship to die.

"Actually, we do. Very simple: we reach that ship, saying that we want to negotiate something to make up for our errors. We then give them an offering, lying about its real purpose. We'll tell them it's an hyperspace enhancer built by the Ancients."

"And they'll believe you? Just like that?"

"Of course!" the commander said, a bit annoyed. "We've been trying to beat the Ancients' hyperspace technology for many millennia."

Feeling defeated, the colonel could only go with the plan, even though he had a feeling it wouldn't go as smooth as the commander thought it would.

As the conversation between the two commanders went along, John was standing behind the one that had brought him there and waited.

He could only think about his team and worry if they were now safe, back on Atlantis. He waited and waited, his role was the key element of this meeting.

"As mentioned in the communication, this is a machine that will enable your hyperspace to merge with the Ancient's technology and thus ameliorate the speed of the ship while in hyperspace."

Sheppard could only focus on the conversation from time to time, as his patience was running low. He wanted to go back home and see if everyone was well. He then thought of Alexander and decided to give his all for this 'mission', and hope that the Wraiths will keep their promise of releasing him after that.

"This human here has the gene to activate the hyperspace enhancer" the commander said. "For this machine will help you beat other cruisers in speed and gain the Queen's favour."

"And why would I accept this? What's telling me this isn't a trap?" the other leader asked.

Of course, this was inevitable. Sheppard tensed, not knowing what would happen next.

But the commander who had captured him knew exactly what to answer to this question: "Now now. How can it be a trap? I am the one who is supposedly a betrayer. I have nothing to gain but your silence" he said, smirking. "This is simply an offering to give me time to escape before you warn the hiveship."

The other Wraith contemplated the machine with interest. "You give me this component, you activate it so I can use it, and the only thing you want is my silence?" He looked at the other commander intently.

"Yes. I guess it is not enough? You want more?"

Were he in another situation, Sheppard would applaud his capturer's performance, but he could only wait for the result of the conversation... hoping it would end well.

The other Wraith chuckled: "Fine. I will hold my silence until someone asks. I am curious about this... hyperspace component."

John was signaled to come closer by his capturer: "This human will activate it and then our deal will be sealed. Afterward, we will leave, as I am sure you will contact the Queen about all this exchange. I don't blame you, I would do the same in your situation."

"Do I activate it now?" John asked, impatient to be done with this.

A nod was all he got as an answer.

"Okay, here it goes." His hand hovered over the machine, not really knowing where to activate it. He tried to simply activate it with his thoughts. A few seconds after, some lights started to glow with a light blue color.

After all that, they could only hope for everything to end on a good note.

(-)

"NO! ELIZABETH! We have to do something! We have to go back! We-!"

"Rodney! Calm down!" Dr Weir said.

The Canadian was on panic mode; he couldn't stay there and do nothing. He had to do something to help Sheppard.

"Dr McKay, just as before, we have to calm down to think straight. There is no way we can come up with a solution if we try to hurry things" Teyla said.

As a silence had just installed himself, Alexander came into the conference room, out of breath.

"What are you doing here?" Rodney asked his son. When he left him, the boy was in the infirmary being checked by Carson. "Weren't you supposed to stay there until I come to get you?"

The boy could only give a pitiful look: "But I was lonely. And that was three hours ago..."

"This means that you'll have to be grounded later, Alexander" Rodney said, not wanting to think about this at that moment. He pinched the bridge of his nose, sensing a headache coming.

"_Unscheduled activation of the gate_" Chuck said, through the speakers of the conference room.

Everyone looked worried. Had the Wraith extracted Atlantis' gate address from Sheppard?

Elizabeth tapped her radio: "Chuck, what's the identification code?"

"_I don't know yet._" After a few seconds, he continued: "_It's...! It's colonel Sheppard's!_"

Everyone left the room to reach the Stargate.

Elizabeth could only take precautions: "I want everyone ready in case it's a trap!" she yelled.

As the wormhole was established, people could only cross their fingers wishing it was really the colonel and not the Wraiths. The marines, guns raised, were ready to fire if needed.

Lieutenant colonel John Sheppard walked through that gate, a bit tired and hungry, but safe nonetheless.

"I need a medical team, stat!" Elizabeth yelled in the radio.

A collective gasp was heard as one of his legs got weak and made him fall on the floor, on one knee.

Rodney hurried beside the man: "John! Oh my gosh, are you okay?" He helped the man get up again, letting Sheppard lean on him.

"I guess so... I'm still alive" the colonel said sarcastically, but with no real bite to it.

The others present could only stare; they were surprised how the military leader of Atlantis could so often be caught in trouble and yet always come out of it in one piece.

Alexander ran towards his parents and hugged his mother's legs and started to cry loudly. This time, no one stopped him from doing so.

John bent down and picked up the boy, sitting him on his hip. "Hey buddy, missed you too."

Rodney did something unexpected from all and hugged both John and Alexander strongly before whispering something in John's ear, which made the man blush so slightly that no one but him noticed.

The medical team arrived and Sheppard was put on a gurney, ready to be transported to the infirmary, despite his "I'm fine" comments.

Rodney took Alexander's hand as they followed the gurney.

Elizabeth sighed, glad that that day was over.

* * *

Hey there! I hope you enjoyed part I and II, cause NOW. FOR. REAL. this is the second to last chapter LOL. Yes, this series is coming to an end. Alexander will have to go back to his dimension one day! :P Until then, please leave a review, it always helps to improve!


	10. How it all ended

**How it all ended**

They had decided to leave two scientists on MXT-089, where they had found little Alexander. They would take each a turn to watch the equipment in case there would be a strange energy sighting, and most probably, Alexander's parents.

It was evening, and Dr. Véronique Dufour was filling her journal entry for the day when a high-pitched beeping caught her attention; it was her scanner that had picked up an unnatural source of energy, not far from the gate. Gasping, she rushed to wake up her sleeping team mate so they could reach the area where the energy disturbance was, as soon as possible: "Juan! Wake up! I think this is it! They're back."

The man groaned and was going back to sleep when she pulled him out of bed by his pajama shirt: "Stop fooling around! Oh gosh I'm all getting nervous!" She finished putting her coat on and threw Juan's clothes on top of his head. She breathed in slowly to calm herself: "Now, Dr. Sanchez, if you are not ready in two minutes, I'll make sure to tell Dr. McKay you were the one who made us miss the return of his alternate self."

The man's eyes grew large with panic and he tried, as best as he could, to dress up but his movements were still clumsy from sleep.

Dr. Dufour smiled with triumph. "That's better." She then went back to packing her stuff.

(-)

Fifteen minutes later, they found the site where the signal was emitting.

Suspended in the air, was a vertical fissure that was emitting little sparks of blue light.

Both scientists were holding their breath and holding their gun ready; someone could come out any second, anyone.

"Véronique, do-"

"Shut up, Juan. Stay concentrated" the woman whispered quickly. She didn't even know why she was whispering, she was too nervous to think about that. Biting her lip, she felt as though she was going to explode from sheer stress alone.

Juan nodded quickly, not wanting to anger her. He closed his eyes, wishing this would end soon or else…

He didn't had time to end that thought that a strange ripping sound was heard and a man was getting out of the fissure. However, because of the darkness of the night, they couldn't see his face well enough to tell if he was friend or foe.

Juan was still mesmerized at the fact that someone had come out of the energy fracture that he didn't have time to react when Véronique yelled loudly at the stranger: "Show yourself!" she bathed him in light with her electric torch: "Where do you come from?"

They immediately recognized the 'I'm-superior-to-you-all' tone: "Well, MAYBE if you weren't BLINDING me with that horrible light I could see where I AM!"

Both scientists let go of that breath they had been holding and Dr. Dufour spoke first: "Welcome to our universe, Dr. McKay." She motioned Dr. Sanchez to lower his weapon and looked back at the Rodney McKay from another dimension: "If you will please follow me, we'll get back to Atlantis."

The alternate Rodney stopped them with a motion of the hand, and put down a large case: "Just wait a few minutes, John is also coming with us."

(-)

It was nine in the evening when the Stargate was activated.

Chuck, the gate technician spoke through the speakers in Elizabeth's office quickly: "Unscheduled activation of the gate. Doctor Weir?"

She was still working in her office when she heard the news. There was no off-world team at the moment and they weren't waiting for anyone… except… "Whose code is it?"

It took a while before the technician answered: "Dr. Dufour's, ma'am."

The leader of Atlantis smiled: "Deactivate the shield." She got up and communicated with Sheppard and McKay. "Your presence is required in the control room, immediately. Weir, out." She was a bit anxious herself at meeting those Sheppard and McKay from another universe.

As Dr. Dufour and Dr. Sanchez came through the gate with both men from the other dimension, Elizabeth, as well as Rodney and John were there to greet them in the Stargate room.

To say that it was a shock would have been… too gentle. At least, for John it was: his alternate self was pregnant: well and swelled in the belly area.

For Rodney, it was simply… strange. His alternate self was not very different physically from him, although a bit more muscled, to which Rodney was slightly jealous. But when he got to the alternate John, he felt something that he couldn't really identify. Of course, this wasn't new to Rodney, feelings never were his forte, but this time, he would have like to be able to know what it was, this... something.

Approaching them felt like a strange dream for everyone on the base. To John and Rodney, it felt like the ending of a long adventure.

(-)

Sitting in the meeting room, Rodney wanted to make things clear before John came back with Alexander.

He sighed, knowing this wouldn't be easy. "Look, alternate me and… alternate John, this is not a joke. What I'm about to tell you is strictly out of affection for Alexander." He paused, judging their reaction. He got what he wanted: a frown from the 'alternate' McKay. "Once, before going to bed, he told he preferred it here, in this dimension."

The alternate John reacted to McKay's words, but the other Rodney stopped him. "And why would he say that?" He tried to hide his anger as well, but did it better than his boyfriend.

"He said that you didn't pay enough attention to him. Well, you-me… you, the alternate me… You know what I meant!" Rodney said gruffly. He did note, however, how his alternate self did not try to rectify anything.

Alternate John, though, did not take the whole thing too well. "What! How can you…!"

Before he could continue, his boyfriend put a hand on the pregnant man's forearm. "No, he's right, John. I don't give Alexander the time he deserves. I realized this a few months ago when we finally got rid of the Wraiths on our Atlantis." He looked at his John Sheppard and added: "And now with another one on the way, it constantly reminds me of Alexander. I've been a bad father…"

One question then hit McKay: "You said a few months ago… what the hell took you so long to come back?" And another question he kept to himself: 'And when did you have time to have another kid?'

This time, it was a calmer alternate John who answered: "Our fight against the Wraith depleted our ZPM. We needed its energy to spark the dimension fissure. We had to wait until we found another one."

Alternate Rodney, however, started chuckling. "I know what you're thinking."

Rodney looked at his other self hesitantly: "Who, me?"

"Yeah, you. I'm pretty sure you were asking yourself how come John is pregnant... again" the alternate Rodney said, putting some emphasis on 'again'. "Well, it actually is a really funny story..."

John sent him a death glare. "It was an accident, yet again, and all Rodney's fault, yet again."

Both Rodneys slightly blushed, but for different reasons.

They didn't have time to talk about this further, as John entered the conference room with a sleepy Alexander attached to his hand.

As the man and the child walked closer to the conference table, confusion was evident in the boy's face. He didn't yet understand how come there was two mommies and two daddies.

John, who let go of Alexander's hand, commented: "He was already asleep when I came in and I guess he's still not completely awake."

The other John's eyes started to shine, seeing his son. "Hey little buddy, we've come to bring you back home" he said, his voice uneven.

Alexander looked back and forth between his parents. His eyes widened as he realized what was happening; he gasped as he threw himself at his mother who, with wide open arms, welcomed him back.

Tears were falling freely from the little family as the other McKay and Sheppard hugged Alexander strongly.

For the other two men present in the room, it was an akward moment; they felt like outsiders. They looked at each other, not really knowing what to say.

Finally, it was the ever impatient Rodney who cleared his throat loudly.

The hugging ended and the alternate versions of John and Rodney stood straight. "We can't thank you enough for taking care of Alexander," John started.

"Yes, but we thought that maybe a ZPM could fit as a gift" Rodney continued. He bent down to take the case he had brought with him. "When we found our ZPM, there were two of them in the ruins, so we thought we could share a bit."

Rodney took the case from his alternate self with surprise. "Huh, well... Thank you, alternate self..."

John chuckled at his friend's lack of words, for once. "Yes, thank you, but you shouldn't have. Even though it was rather... weird at first, it was a great experience."

The other McKay then announced that they should get going, as Atlantis was being devoided from her leaders.

"But we want to know... How is it, in your dimension?" Rodney asked.

"Well there doesn't seem to be much difference. Except for that big buy with the dreads and that woman that is your leader, it pretty much looks the same."

Then, John asked: "What about Ford? Is he still with you guys?"

"Of course, Ford is part of our team. Isn't he here?" The alternate John answered.

At the grim look the two men had on their face, the alternate John took this as a 'no'.

They all decided to end the conversation not to stir any other unwanted emtions and started to walk toward the gate.

"We will be using the Stargate to return home, as we created a special crystal that you can put in your DHD. This will enable the fissure in your dimension so that we can go back to ours" the other McKay said, giving the crystal to his alternate self. "It's a one-time thing, so you won't be able to use it once we've gone through the gate. Sorry."

Taking the crystal, the scientist went to work and put it where is was suppose to be to enable the Stargate to send the little family into another dimension.

(-)

McKay smiled as Alexander and his parents walked through the Stargate, leaving for their own dimension. "Well, this is really the end, huh?"

"Yup."

Turning his head to send a glance at Sheppard, he noticed how the man's eyes were slightly shining with unshed tears, still focused on the Stargate that just shut off.

Giving the colonel a shoulder bump to bring him back to reality, he decided that it would definitely be better than a manly hug; it would be less harmful to "mommy's" already damaged masculinity.

John smirked and answered him with a shoulder bump of his own: "Shut up, McKay." Then, the man's eyes widened in panic as he turned to face the scientist: "Dammit!"

Rodney slitghtly panicked: "What's wrong?"

"We forgot to ask them how my alternate self ended up, errr... pregnant... I definitely don't want this to happen!"

Rodney exploded with laugh and received a slap behind the head: "Shut up, McKay!" John said, with a smile in his voice.

* * *

LOL This chapter was written a long time ago, before most of them were even thought about. I hope I didn't disappoint some of you by sending Alexander back to his dimension :(

One chapter left and then it's finished; well, it's more like an epilogue more than anything.

Oh yeah, and just for you, **Gazerock4evr**, _what RODNEY SAID TO JOHN at the end of the last chapter_ (which made him blush): "You're back... I thought I had lost you this time..."

Thank you for reviewing and stay tuned for the next chapter... which is coming in less than fifteen minutes! lol


	11. Doubting

**Doubting**

Weeks after Alexander's departure, there was still emptiness in everyone's heart.

Elizabeth missed the boy's incessant questions about the Ancient language. Every time she was in her office and someone would come near, she would think about Alexander. However, she knew there were two persons who missed him more than anyone else in the Ancient city.

(-)

It was night and on his bed, John was trying to relax. He sighed loudly, as he had done very often ever since the boy had left.

Locking his glance on Alexander's teddy bear sitting on his night stand, he remembered the day he went back home. John could still recall how the boy had insisted that, until he would come back, Teddy could keep them company.

The military man smiled, reaching for the plush toy.

(-)

In his own room, Rodney was pacing; in the labs, he hadn't been able to concentrate, so he thought that he might need a nap or something. However, after five minutes stretched on his bed, he couldn't fight the fidgetiness in him. He then decided to walk around Atlantis, maybe that would calm down the 'ants in the pants' feeling.

Unsurprisingly, he ended up at John's door. For almost a year, it had somewhat been his second bedroom.

A hand going through his hair, he knocked on the door, hoping John was absent.

When he heard some shuffling, he almost panicked and tried to think of a reason to be there. As the door opened, he tried to compose himself.

John Sheppard was standing with Alexander's teddy bear in one of his hands, waiting for some kind of explanation from the scientist's part; he knew Rodney always felt the urge to justify himself for everything he did.

Rodney looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He smiled uneasily: "Hi… Sheppard."

John felt a bit of sadness at Rodney's use of his last name. They had been calling each other by their first name more often ever since Alexander had come to Atlantis; the boy had once told them that it was too weird for them to call each other by their last name, because 'parents are supposed to call themselves by their first name' as he had said.

John smiled at the memory, but was quickly brought back to reality when Rodney said, uncomfortably, "You gonna let me in?"

John, embarrassed by his distracting memories, took a step aside to let the other inside his room.

As the door closed, Rodney looked around the room and could see that John hadn't taken out the mattress lying on the floor, with a pile of small clothes. "Why are you keeping all of this in here?" Alexander went back home. "Do you think he'll come back because you left it there?" he said arrogantly. When he saw the slightly hurt look in the colonel's eyes, he said more gently: "Errrr... sorry about that. You miss him a lot, huh?"

John scratched his chin nonchalantly, not really wanting to answer. He then shrugged. "Of course I miss him…" he looked directly into McKay's blue eyes, "who wouldn't?"

"Yes, of course," McKay sighed, "it seems that Alexander took far more space on Atlantis than we all thought… When I walk in the hallways, everyone look at me as though he was dead."

Sitting on his bed, John looked at the teddy in his hands and agreed: "Yeah, some of them even go as far as to say that they're sorry he's gone." He scoffed lightly and said: "One of them was even adventurous enough to tell me that she wished that Alexander had been our real son."

Rodney could see how much this whole thing was affecting John, so he walked and sat down beside the other man on the bed. Trying to lighten the mood, he said jokingly: "Hey, how come you're the one that gets to keep Teddy?"

John looked at Rodney with a half-smile: "Well, because I'm the 'mommy'" he said, sarcastically.

They both started to laugh, even though it wasn't that funny. The laugh died and let place to a comfortable silence.

"You would've made a great 'mom', Sheppard. Pretty sure of it."

John's eyes narrowed slightly. "Thanks, Rodney. Although… I'm not sure to take this as a compliment or as an insult."

The Canadian grinned: "Well… with that girly figure of yours-"

But he didn't have time to finish that he was attacked by a pillow.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Rodney yelled.

John laughed. "That's for telling me that I look like a girl" he said, victoriously.

Rodney thought quickly and saw that the teddy bear had been abandoned for the pillow. He swiftly grabbed the plush toy and ran towards the door. As he opened it, he smiled arrogantly: "Shared custody G'night!" he said and left.

The door closed with a loud whooshing sound.

John then lied down on his bed, a soft smile on his lips.

He started humming a song that his mother sang to him when he was a child; he used to sing it to Alexander when he would wake up from a nightmare.

The man then realized that he did wanted children eventually; with his first marriage, he hadn't felt the urge to have kids. Maybe he had grown up with Alexander's visit. He didn't know.

Although he would never admit it out loud, unlike what he had declared when Alexander left, a small part of him wished that someday they would come across an opportunity that had given his alternate self the chance to have his own little Alexander. A child is a big responsibility and requires a lot of maturity, but it brought so many positive changes that in the end, it was all worth it. That, he was sure of.

Turning off the lights with his thoughts, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

THE END

* * *

So this is it folks! Finally finished yayz. Did you guys like it? I tried to write everyone as much as in-character as possible, but I probably failed in some places. Alexander finally went home with mommy and daddy and now everyone miss him. I'll miss him too :P As for those who wanted to know how in the other universe Alexander was conceived, here's my explanation: During a mission on a planet, there was a celebration about life and its joys. To be polite, Teyla offered to the leader of those people to participate in the rite that accompanied this celebration. However, only those with the ancient gene could do it because their god (which was actually an Ancient machine) would only accept (be activated by) those who had the ATA gene. Rodney and Sheppard didn't have much choice... you can guess the rest. lol Ah sweet ignorance XD

Whatever, this was my first Stargate:Atlantis fanfiction ever. I want to write another one, it would kind of be a follow-up, but I dunno... would you guys be interested in reading another one? ;D Let me know!

PLEASE review to tell me if you liked Precious Times or not. It's very important for me to know, this way I can improve :)

So until next time, have a nice day. Hugz and kisses to everyone who read my story from start to finish! -xxx- Demain Matin


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